How to keep front shell fully extended - Page 3

**Larryjb** · 05-30-2020, 09:49 PM

Can you measure the diameters of all four torsion bars? You need to be able to measure to the nearest 1 /16"

If you read my article, you will see that my T M had the wrong torsion bars. This can happen if someone adds an awning, if the trailer wasn't manufactured with one.

I used a simple vernier caliper available at most hardware stores.

Shane826 · 05-31-2020, 06:46 AM

Is this a new issue? Or has it been ongoing since you’ve owned the camper?

ByronDillard · 05-31-2020, 08:41 AM

Thanks Larry and Shane. This is a recently recognized issue that has been ongoing since we purchased the TM from the original owner last November. As we started to use the camper, I kept noticing issues related to the door but I attributed them to me not being precise in setting up the shells. When I started to build Bill’s screen door, I noticed how much difference I had in the height of the opening for the top of the door from one side to he other. When I started trying to see what caused that, all the other door issues came into focus. I can’t quite get the short lower walls that fold out to form the box for the bottom of the door square with the side of the camper because the front shell doesn’t want to stay fully extended. The door will usually latch but I can’t throw the deadbolt unless I lift up the bottom corner on the latch side of the door while locking. The top and bottom door jambs don’t quite align, so the top and bottom of the hinge are not quite aligned, etc.

The camper is a 2015 model built in Sept 2014 so I guess it was one of the last ones built in the Tennessee plant. Since the company ownership has changed and I’m the 2nd owner, I don’t have high expectations of warranty coverage.

There have not been any major mods or additions since the camper left the plant. It has the stock AC unit, awning and satellite TV antenna on the front shell. Hopefully they sized the torsion bars for this load. I’ll try to measure the bars today.

**Bill** · 05-31-2020, 10:28 AM

Byron -

In your first post, you mentioned the "little arms" that swing out to hold the shell in place. It is common for the arms to be spaced out from the frame by a stack of washers on the attachment bolt, between the arm and the frame. I have seen a stack as much as an inch thick. Does your trailer have a bunch of spacer washers - not necessarily an inch, but some?

Do the "little arms" still have quite a bit of play? If so, what causes the play? Is the hole for the pin oversized? If so, remove the arm, turn it over and drill another hole in the proper size (snug on the pin, but not so tight that you have to smack the arm to get the pin in.) Is the hole for the bolt oversized? If so, turn it on its side and re-drill. Note that the arm is a simple piece of aluminum tube, available at any hardware store for little money, so if you end up needing to replace it, it is easy.

If you open the shell all the way, and do something to keep it in the full-open position, do any of the problems go away? As an example of a way to keep it open, I can imagine setting a long 2x4 with one end on the ground near the rear of the trailer, and the other end against the rear vertical edge of the shell.

Bill

**commodor47** · 05-31-2020, 10:55 AM

Byron,

Have you checked the street side wiring harness that runs down the white, rectangular support tubes? Perhaps one or more of the harnesses are binding just enough to prevent the shell from staying completely open?

Dick

ByronDillard · 05-31-2020, 11:13 AM

Larry, the torsion bar sizes for the front shell are:
Door/Awning side front: 13/16 (.82")
Street side front: 12/16 (.77")
Both sides of the back of the front shell: 9/16 (.57")
What how does this match to what you expect?

Bill, the little arms do not have any spacer washers on the frame side (1 washer between the bolt head and the arm). The holes in the arm do not appear to be wallowed out. The play I'm getting is in the bracket that the bolt screws in to. It is about 4.5" long and seems to be attached to the lower wall with only 3 sheet metal type screws. I guess I could beef those up with bigger screws but have no idea what they have to bite into in the top corner of that lower wall. I had been thinking along the lines you mentioned... some sort of braces to keep the shell extended to see if that solves my door alignment issues, etc. It would be easier if I didn't have to avoid bracing to the sofa slideout but I think I can engineer something.

**Bill** · 05-31-2020, 12:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ByronDillard

Bill,

The play I'm getting is in the bracket that the bolt screws in to. It is about 4.5" long and seems to be attached to the lower wall with only 3 sheet metal type screws. I guess I could beef those up with bigger screws but have no idea what they have to bite into in the top corner of that lower wall.

Am I correct in saying that the bracket is a 4-1/2 inch piece of angle iron (aluminum), with two sheet metal screws facing front, and one facing out to the side? And you are telling me that this bracket is floppy? Are both of them (both sides) floppy? That is not how it should be, since as you note, floppy brackets will allow the arms to be floppy, which is not right.

First, tell me what is meant by "floppy". How much can the various parts move? Are we talking about 1/8" of movement at the pin end of the "little bars" - or 1" of movement?

Try tightening the screws. If the screws are stripped, take them out and substitute screws with next larger diameter, same length. The screws are almost certainly biting into the frame of either the front wall or the side wall. The wall frames are made of square aluminum tubing, more or less the same size as the "little arms". Each screw goes into a hole in one side of the tubing. If the screw holes are stripped, bigger diameter screws will bite properly. But don't go longer - there is no point in trying to screw into the far side of the frame tube.

Is the bolt itself floppy? If so, same advice - next larger diameter, same length.

If the floppiness seems that it is not due to loose screws, but is due to looseness in whatever the screws go into, it may indicate that the front wall frame is coming apart at the edge. I don't know how this could happen, and it would be a pain to fix, but it is not as dire as it sounds.

Quote:

I had been thinking along the lines you mentioned... some sort of braces to keep the shell extended to see if that solves my door alignment issues, etc. It would be easier if I didn't have to avoid bracing to the sofa slideout but I think I can engineer something.

A 10-foot length of something stiff - a 2x4, a length of plastic pipe, a wooden pole, whatever - with one end wedged into the ground beside the trailer and the other against the rear edge of the front shell, at about eyeball height, should do nicely. Don't get elaborate. It is just a quick test.

Bill

ByronDillard · 05-31-2020, 01:07 PM

Dick, I checked the wiring harness again and it is not catching on anything so that doesn't appear to be the problem.

Bill, Yes the 3 screws were loose on the angle bracket on both sides. They were loose enough to allow about 1 inch of play at the end of the little arms. I've tightened them and now I only have about 1/8" of play. This will help but with just those little sheet metal screws, this is obviously not designed in expectation of much force from the little support arms on a continual/regular basis. Until I can get the shell to naturally stay at the fully extended position, the pull from the arms will keep loosening those screws.

ByronDillard · 05-31-2020, 01:14 PM

This is where my front shell naturally wants to rest, about 5.5” back from where it should be. You can see the pin sticking down and the end of the little square arm where that pin should be.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

**Larryjb** · 05-31-2020, 03:17 PM

Byron,
Those are the correct sizes for a front shell with only the awning like mine. Perhaps someone can measure the torsion bar diameter for a 2720 with the awning and roof AC? The roof AC may require 13/16" on both sides because of the added weight.

You should be able to lift a shell easily (albeit slowly) with one hand. If you can do this, something else is probably wrong. Make some that the black brackets on the bottom edge of the trailer that the torsion bars go through are secure.